First Ever CNG Carrier to Be Classed by ABS

ABS, a provider of global marine classification services, has been chosen to class the world’s first compressed natural gas (CNG) carrier ordered by Pelayaran Bahtera Adhiguna, a subsidiary of Indonesia’s state-owned power company Perusahaan Listrik Negara (PT PLN).

The precedent-setting ship is to be built at Qingdao Wuchuan Heavy Industry’s shipyard in northern China.

“As society’s demands continue to drive the search for cleaner forms of energy, new methods of marine transport, propulsion and processing for gas are being required.

ABS remains committed to being on the leading edge of that technical evolution, supporting industry and regulators as they navigate through the challenges,” said ABS Chairman and CEO Christopher J. Wiernicki.

The CNG ship has been designed by China’s CIMC Ocean Engineering Design & Research Institute.

PT PLN’s inaugural CNG ship, which will be dual-classed with the Indonesian class society Biro Klasifikasi Indonesia, will be 110 meters in length and offer sailing speeds of 14 knots.

It is designed to offer a nominal CNG capacity of 2,200 m3 and will fly under the Indonesian flag.

The ship is expected to transport natural gas from Indonesian fields in East Java to communities on the island of Lombok, benefiting relatively remote communities that are not economically feasible to supply by pipeline.

The contract award comes just months after ABS unveiled its new Global Gas Solutions team, a multi-disciplinary group of technical specialists formed to respond to the rapidly escalating number of gas-related projects, including LNG and LPG transportation, the use of LNG and LPG as fuel and a growing number of FLNG projects.